Department Of Homeland Security Getting Into The CD Business

In order to discourage people from crossing into the United States outside of the accepted channels, the Department Of Homeland Security has decided to enter into the side business of making and promoting its own records. Migra Corridos is a DHS-masterminded, ad-company-executed EP of ranchero music that tells the tales of “tragic border crossings,” presumably to dissuade listeners from trying to beat the songs’ protagonists’ odds. The disc–which DHS has distributed to radio stations throughout Latin America for the past two years–is streaming here; feel free to listen in as you read on.

The border patrol wouldn’t provide 3 On Your Side with the exact dollar amount spent on the CD’s production, so we showed the CD to a Spanish broadcaster to get his take. “There is a lot of hours on the studio time I can tell and also this is nice, so they spent a lot of money on it, I can tell,” Felix said. The border patrol did tell 3TV the CD is funded by a $3.8 million Border Safety Initiative aimed at reducing injuries and preventing deaths along the U.S. border. The initiative pays for the agency’s “No More Crosses on the Border” campaign. The campaign focuses on television and radio advertisements warning immigrants about the dangers of crossing the desert. The CD is the next leg of those efforts.

Of course, there’s some debate as to just how effective spending money on recording studios and the like is, but at least someone out there is getting to live their dream of working for the government in a real, live recording studio. And there’s a sequel coming out next month, apparently! Homeland Security using music to protect the border [AZFamily] [Pic via Propaganda Anonymous]